Lucianna Faraone Coccia

Using DAQRI // 4D Studio to add the FBX of the Red Car to the Key Images ::

Red Car Project :: Update ::

Now That I’ve made a cleaned up model of the PE-655 (Red Car), I am looking to explore the old route ( San Fernando Valley Line ) that the car took. In looking at the sign on the car I photographed at the Orange Empire Railway Museum, and the model I made, I could see the streets taken along the route:

I then looked on the interactive map of the old railway system to get a better idea of the route, which I plan to travel and get some key images of for Daqri use.

“The San Fernando Valley Line followed the Santa Monica Boulevard line as far as the intersection of Santa Monica and Highland Ave. (7.12 miles). There it turned north on Highland Ave, using the tracks of the Highland Avenue Line to the mouth of Cahuenga Pass (MP 8.66). Once through the pass, the line passed Universal City (11.11 miles) and arrived at Lankershim (North Hollywood) where double track ended, 13.83 miles from Subway Terminal. From North Hollywood to Kester Junction, a distance of 2.26 miles, this line originally shared the right of way and finally the rails of Southern Pacific’s North Hollywood Branch. Prior to 1938, PE had its own single track line paralleling the SP line to the south; severe floods in early 1938 washed out PE’s bridge in this portion of the line and it entered an agreement with SP whereby it leased the SP track and electrified same. From Kester Junction. this line proceeded on its own single track to the town of Van Nuys, passing through the town on double track to North Sherman Way, 19.93 miles, where the line branched into two lines. One branch turned west on Sherman Way, arriving at Reseda, 24.91 miles, and finally at its terminus, Owensmouth (Canoga Park), 29.10 miles.”(x)

Santa Monica Boulevard

Santa Monica Boulevard

Santa Monica Boulevard to Cahuenga Pass (now 101 freeway)

Cahuenga Pass

Van Nuys // Sherman Way

DOCUMENTATION :: New Avatars ::

MaCarthur Park ::

DOCUMENTATION :: screenshots ::

Grand Central Market ::

LACMA Square ::

Pershing Square ::

DOCUMENTATION :: Fieldwork ::

DOCUMENTATION :: LACMA EEG : AR Clinic ::

LOST THINGS :: Prop Shop ::

“Lost Your Venom” + “Lost My Rhythm”

“Lost Innocence”

I went to the Orange Empire Railway Museum this past weekend to photograph some train cars. The PE 655 (Hollywood Car) – like many – is not running mechanically, so it stays in the garage, making it hard to get proper photos using photogrammetry, because not all angles were available. I got some good ones and put the photos into 123D CATCH and it created a model that is partially missing one side (the side I had a hard time photographing because of its close proximity to the wall). Here’s what I got:

THINGS WE’VE LOST :: Transit / Red Car System

Los Angeles has been served by public transit since 1873, and once ran, essentially, on a system of streetcars rather than the freeways and cars used today. There are many conspiracy theories involving this topic, the most popular, perhaps, being the acclaimed “Red Car Conspiracy,” which Roman Mars and Eric Molinsky of “99% Invisible” (a tiny radio show about design) label as being “almost like a fable.” The theory goes something like this: there once was a trolley system that covered the entire city, and after WWII, GM or Ford or some large company bought the cars so they could dismantle them, forcing dependency on the freeways.

The theory is also featured in the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit? As our antagonist, Doom, tells our protagonist, Eddie, that he will destroy all of the red cars, making room for “a place where people get on and off the freeway. On and off, off and on all day, all night… a string of gas stations, inexpensive motels, restaurants that serve rapidly prepared food. Tire salons, automobile dealerships and wonderful, wonderful billboards reaching as far as the eye can see.”

Henry Huntington, railway mogul of his time, completed his first line in 1902. The line ran from Los Angeles to Long Beach. In 1911, what is known as “The Great Merger” occurred, combining several different companies into one: Pacific Electric Railway Company. The Pacific Electric Railway system consisted of a standard (4 feet, 8½ inches) gauge interurban system suitable for competing with steam railroad lines for freight or passengers. It shared a dual gauge track with the narrow gauge system (3 feet, six inches), consolidating them into the Los Angeles Railway (Yellow Cars). The railway system was now divided only between Los Angeles Railway (LARy – Yellow Car System) and Pacific Electric (Red Car System). Pacific Electric was the largest electric railway system in the world during the 1920s, connecting cities in Los Anglees, Orange County, San Bernadino County, and Riverside County.

In looking into the history of transit in Los Angeles, I came across the Orange Empire Railway Museum located in Perris, CA. The museum has collected over 35 pieces of rail equipment from the Red Car empire, including some very classic pieces like the “Hollywood Cars” (PE-655) of the 1920s.

I have contacted people at the museum and I’ve planned a visit to get some photos of the Red Car (PE-655). With these photos, we can then create a 3D virtual model of the car and place it on a current day map of where it would run, if it were still running. Here’s the intersection in map form as well as a still image I captured:

Today we worked at LACMA while some of our peers worked in Boston. They were there with us though, just on the other side of the screen (and several feet of snow, I hear). At LACMA, we set up our augmented reality viewing devices, along with some other pieces of the Clinic installation.

Mobile

The Art + Technology Lab at LACMA, were the EEG AR Clinic will be held, + one of our viewing devices.

Reality ?

Mike and our friend from Olvera Street (arguably the oldest theme park in existence, founded in the oldest part of Downtown Los Angeles).

The Lab

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Working with Maya to clean up what CATCH 1-2-3 produced with photogrammetry, and save it as an OBJ file.

3D ME !

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Working with Autodesk 123//Catch 123 to create an avatar of myself for the virtual world!